The fire that reduced the 11-storey Botha Sigcau Building in Mthatha to ashes on March 24 is a warning we cannot ignore.
The building housed several government departments, yet it burned completely — even though the nearest fire station is less than a kilometre away.
That fact alone raises a serious concern: KSD’s fire service appears unable to reach any floor above ground level.
If high-rise fires cannot be accessed, the municipality cannot protect its own buildings or the people who use them.
The destruction will disrupt essential services for the entire OR Tambo district in the departments of human settlements, agriculture, education, health, transport, social development, sport, recreation, arts & culture, and co-operative governance & traditional affairs.
Thousands of citizens who rely on these offices for IDs, grants, title deeds, health referrals, and other daily needs will now face delays and hardship.
This is not an isolated incident. Over the past 10 years, fires have destroyed the Transkei Hotel, the Grosvenor Hotel, Jimmy’s SuperSpar and Mthatha Pharmacy — all in Mthatha’s CBD.
In each case, firefighters either arrived late or they arrived without the equipment needed to extinguish the blaze; in some instances they ran out of water.
The Botha Sigcau Building is more than fifty years old, and there is no public indication that a fire-risk inspection was ever carried out or that preventative measures (working sprinklers, clear exits, electrical checks, access for aerial appliances) were in place.
A responsible municipality would have conducted these checks long before disaster struck.
Mthatha is becoming a disaster-prone city without a functioning disaster-prevention and risk-management strategy.
Without urgent action, more fires — and other emergencies — are inevitable, and residents will pay the price.
It is therefore in the interest of the public in the area that KSD local municipality, OR Tambo district municipality, the MEC of Cogta and provincial disaster management officials:
- Publish the municipality’s fire services capacity, including the height its equipment can reach, the number of operational fire engines, and staff levels;
2. Conduct an immediate audit of all high-rise buildings, hospitals, and shopping malls in the KSD municipal area, including Mthatha and Mqanduli; and
3. Release a public report on the date of the last fire-safety inspection of the Botha Sigcau Building, as well as the PRD, KD Matanzima, Labour, and ECDC buildings in the same vicinity. — Mcebisi Kraai, Ward 10, KSD Municipality
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